Two bodyguards who were hired to protect New England Patriots superstar Tom Brady and his supermodel partner, Gisele Bundchen, as they exchanged wedding vows in 2009 were sentenced to five years in prison on attempted murder charges for shooting at two photographers who covered the affair.
The photographers were shooting pictures about 300 feet from the couple, The New York Post reported. But to the bodyguards, that was too close. And they opened fire.
“Thank God I’m all right,” said Rolando Aviles, one of the photographers, who spoke to The Post right after the incident unfolded. “At that moment, I thought I was going to die. If the bullet had been a little more to the left or right, it would have killed one of us. I said, ’They’re going to kill us.’”
The wedding took place in Costa Rica, and Mr. Aviles, and his photographer friend, Yuri Cortez, said they had permission to shoot the ceremony from the property owners.
The bodyguards were also fined $10,000, The Post reported.
USA Today reported the bodyguards were named Miguel Solis and Columbian Alexander, and that a third guard was acquitted. Their actual convictions: Attempted murder. USA Today also reported that Mr. Brady had tried to dismiss the incident shortly after it occurred.
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In an interview with Sports Illustrated back in 2009, the star quarterback described the scene this way: “We found two guys on our property and we told them to get out. Our security guys didn’t even have guns. There were no shots fired.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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